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Dudley man denies distributing terrorist publication

A DUDLEY man who was arrested after a police raid at his home has denied sending radical Islamic literature to a prisoner.

Usman Choudhary, 34, of Terry Street, is on trial at Kingston-upon Thames Crown Court accused of posting the book Join The Caravan to a prisoner at HMP Swaleside in Kent.

Mr Choudhary, who has pleaded not guilty to possessing and distributing a terrorist publication, was detained by West Midlands Police after it is alleged they were tipped off by prison authorities who became alarmed about the contents of the book.

Alison Morgan, prosecuting, told the court: “The prosecution allege that it can be described as a terrorist publication."

The book was written by Sheikh Abdullah Azzam and the prosecution allege it was used to recruit fighters for the Afghan conflict of the late seventies and early eighties.

Miss Morgan told the jury: "The author encouraged unrestricted jihad in the book, it is an instruction to 'Join the Caravan' of mujahideen and martyrs.

"It introduces the theme of total commitment to violent struggle and the eschewing of peaceful resistance, negotiation or protest.

"It is alleged that it emphatically encourages, from the outset, out and out violence with no scope for peaceful resolution.

"Our law defines terrorism as serious violence, or the threat of violence, pursued for a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.”

The trial, which began on July 7, is expected to last around three weeks.